Automotive door locks

ABSTRACT

A lock assembly for the doors of automotive vehicles, which comprises a conventional-type lock and is characterized in that said assembly is secured to the door by means of a holding corner plate screwed in turn to the lower portion of the lock by means of the lower securing screw of said lock, said screw extending through a resilient pad of suitable plastic material, the vertical plane containing the lock bolt in the closed-door position merging substantially into the median plane of the keeper.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Michel Tixier Billancourt, France [2]] Appl. No. 887,042 [22] Filed Dec. 22, 1969 [45] Patented Oct. 5, 1971 [73] Assignees Regie Nationale des Usines Renault (Haut de Seine), France; Automobiles Peugot Paris, France [54] AUTOMOTIVE DOOR LOCKS 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl ..292/341.12, 292/D1G. 37, 292/D1G. 38, 292/D1G. 41 [51] Int. Cl E05b 15/02 [50] Field of Search ..292/341.12, 12, 341.13, 340, 214, 280, 216, 300

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,133,602 10/1938 Waterbury 292/341.12

2,499,165 2/1950 Roethel 292/34l.12 2,679,420 5/1954 Crockett 292/341.12X 3,034,818 5/1962 Cockburn 292/280 3,371,948 3/1968 Velavicius 292/341.12

Primary Examiner-George F. Mautz Assistant Examiner-Edward J. McCarthy Attorney-Stevens, Davis, Miller and Mosher ABSTRACT: A lock assembly for the doors of automotive vehicles, which comprises a conventional-type lock and is characterized in that said assembly is secured to the door by means of a holding corner plate screwed in turn to the lower portion of the lock by means of the lower securing screw of said lock, said screw extending through a resilient pad of suitable plastic material, the vertical plane containing the lock bolt in the closed-door position merging substantially into the median plane of the keeper.

AUTOMOTIVE DOOR LOCKS registering door pillar or upright of the body is produced in.

general only in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle whereas all stresses directed parallel to this axis causes a release of said bolt and therefore the opening of the door.

Under these conditions, it appears that a safety rule would require the hooking engagement between the lock bolt and its keeper both in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and at right angles thereto. Embodying a door lock meeting this requirement may imply various technical solutions but in general a complicated system is used which involves, for mounting on a given vehicle type, a modification in the configurations previously contemplated for the door pillars and the doors themselves already equipped with conventional-type locking devices.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a lock assembly adaptable to the doors of existing vehicles and permitting a longitudinal hooking engagement of the doors to the door pillars of the vehicle body and at the same time a transverse hooking engagement therebetween without requiring any modification in the lock mounting and keeper mounting contemplated for a lock of conventional type.

To this end the present invention provides a novel industrial product consisting of a lock assembly intended for the doors of automotive vehicles, which is characterized in that it comprises on the one hand a door lock unit of conventional type but provided at its lower portion with a holding comer plate comprising a vertical wing and a lower horizontal wing portion adapted to bear against the bottom plate of the door lock, a resilient pad being disposed between the vertical wing of said corner plate and the bottom plane of the door lock so as to provide between the lower edge of the lock casing and the aforesaid pad a space permitting the insertion of a keeper; and on the other hand, a keeper coacting with the lower edge of said lock casing and comprising in its zone nearest to the lock a retaining heel of which the lower end is adapted to bear against said resilient pad and lies at a level lower than that of the upper edge of said vertical wing of said holding corner plate.

In a preferred form of embodiment of this invention the keeper comprises at its upper portion a pair of V-shaped retaining notches and is secured to the door pillar of the vehicle body by a set of screws. The keeper may advantageously consist of three elements disposed side-by-side, with the intermediate element consisting of a plastic material having a low coefficient of friction and disposed between two metalic ere ments; the keeper metallic element nearest to the lock with which it is intended to coact is so dimensioned that its lower portion constitutes the keeper retaining heel. A resilient pad engageable by said retaining heel consists of a plastic member apertured to impart the desired resiliency thereto. The door lock further comprises a fastening screw in its upper portion and another fastening screw in its lower portion, said lastnamed fastening screw being adapted to secure said retaining comer plate to the lower portion of the lock by extending through said resilient pad. The vertical plane in which the lock bolt is positioned when the door is closed merges substantially into the plane of the intermediate element of said threeelement keeper.

It may be pointed out that the advantage provided by the lock assembly of this invention lies partly in the fact that the fastening of the lock unit to the door and of the keeper to the door pillar is exactly similar to that usually resorted to in the case of conventional-type door locks; thus, notably, the lock unit of this invention is secured to the door by means of a first screw located in the upper portion of its bottom plate, and of a second screw located in the lower portion of said bottom plate, said second screw being the same as that securing the retaining corner plate to the bottom plate. Similarly, the keeper is secured to the body door pillar'by means of a pair of screws disposed as in the case of conventional keepers.

The resilient pad disposed at the lower portion of the lock unit acts as a movable wedging member as frequently employed in conventional-type lock assemblies for taking up play developing between the keeper and the lock, and for assisting, at the end of the door closing operation, in positioning the door in relation to the vehicle body as a whole by eliminating the play between the door and its hinges. The use of this resilient pad makes it necessary to provide at the lower portion of the keeper of the lock assembly of this invention an inclined plane or cam face facilitating the positioning of the lower portion of the keeper on the upper portion of the resilient pad; similarly, it is also possible according to this invention to form the upper portion of said resilient pad with an inclined plane or cam face having an angle calculated to facilitate the bearing engagement between said resilient pad and the underface of said keeper.

The advantage arising from the use of a keeper consisting of three elements disposed side-by-side with the central element made of a material havinga low coefficient of friction lies in the fact that the wear resistance of the lock assembly is greatly improved if the lock bolt can slide on this material during the door-closing operation. As already explained in the foregoing, the keeper of the lock assembly according to this invention comprises at its upper portion a pair of notches engageable by said bolt, one notch corresponding to the safety catch and the other notch to the normal closed position.

In order to afford a clearer understanding of this invention a typical form of embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective fragmentary view of the door of an automotive vehicle, equipped with alock unit according to this invention, with the corresponding keeper or striker adapted to be secured to the door upright;

FIG. 2 is an end view showing the lower portion of the lock unit of this invention with the corresponding keeper before engaging the lock bolt into the keeper;

FIG. 3 illustrates in end view the lower portion of the lock unit of this invention with the corresponding keeper in the closed door position;

FIG. 4 illustrates in perspective an exploded view the three component elements of the keeper illustrated in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the lock unit of this invention in the closed-door position.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral 1 designates a vehicle door provided with a lock 2 adapted to be actuated by means of a pushbutton 3. The lock 2 comprises a bottom plate 4, a conventional lock mechanism and a lock bolt 5; at its lower portion it further comprises a retaining or hooking corner plate 6 of which the lower horizontal wing is adapted to bear against a lower portion of the bottom plate, i.e. at a point designated by the reference numeral 7.

In the gap or space left between the comer plate 6 and the bottom plate 4 a resilient pad 8 is inserted. This pad 8 consists of a moulded piece of the plastic material, preferably of the material sold under the commercial name DELRIN"; it comprises an aperture 9 extending longitudinally near its upper face 10 for facilitating the yielding of this face 10, the latter being blade-shaped and retained at both ends, as shown notably in FIG. 2. The width of this resilient face 10 is slightly inferior to that of the resilient pad to permit the free flexion thereof when the pad 8 is clamped between the corner plate 6 and the bottom plate 4. The aperture 9 is shaped to permit the passage therethrough of a securing screw 1 l engaging the vertical wing of comer plate 6 and adapted to be screwed into the door 1 through the bottom plate 4 of the lock unit, the screw 11 engages a tapped hole 12 formed in a counterplate 13 disposed behind the bottom plate 4 of the lock unit, inside the door 1, at the level of the vertical wing of the retaining corner plate 6. The upper face 10 of pad 8 is slightly inclined to the horizontal, the lowest portion of this face being the first portion struck by the keeper coacting with this lock.

The lock unit 2 of door 1 is adapted to coact with a keeper or striker designated by the reference numeral 14. This keeper 14 comprises three elements disposed side-by-side. The element engaging the body pillar 15 of the vehicle door is denoted 16 and consists of metal; it comprises a substantially rectnagular rear portion and a front portion of which the upper face has formed therein a pair of notches 17, 18; besides, the lower face of this first element 16 has formed therein a pair of successive inclined planes 19, 20. The keeper element remotest from the door pillar 15 is denoted 21 as a whole; it is likewise metallic and has the same configuration as the above-described element 16, except that the height of its rectangular portion is greater than the height of the rectangular portion of element 16. Between these elements 16 and 21 is a third keeper element 22 having the same configuration as said first element 16; this third or intermediate element 22 is made preferably of plastic material of the above-mentioned type known under the trade name DELRIN. The three elements 16, 22 and 21 are secured to the door pillar 15 of the vehicle body by a pair of screws 23 and 24 adapted to coact with a counterplate 25 disposed behind the pillar 15 at the level of keeper 14 in its final mounting position. The apertures permitting the passage of said securing screws 23 and 24 through the keeper elements 16, 22 and 21 are so disposed that the upper faces of these elements are strictly level with one another; under these conditions the lower portion of element 21 constitutes a retaining heel. The keeper is secured to the door pillar 15 of the vehicle body at such a level that when the door 1 is closed the keeper l4 coacts with the lock 2 by engaging the space left between the lower edge of the lock casing and the upper face 10 of resilient pad 8. The thickness of the elements constituting the keeper 14, on the one hand, and the position of lock bolt with reference to the door pillar of the vehicle body, on the other hand, are such that when the door is closed the lower edge of lock casing bears on the keeper element 22. In this closed position the vertical wing of corner plate 6 lies between the lower portion of keeper element 21 and the door pillar 15 of the vehicle body.

With the above-described device it is clear that the hooking engagement of the bolt 5 of lock 2 with the keeper 14 secured to the door pillar 15 takes place in a very conventional manner. In other words, when closing the door the bolt firstly engages the first notch 18 of the keeper; then the second notch 17; therefore, the first notch 18 constitutes the safety catch adapted to retain the door in a safety position. When closing the door the retaining heel consisting of the lower portion of keeper element 21 bears against the top face of elastic pad 8 and the keeper 14 is thus inserted between the lower edge of the door lock casing and the resilient pad 8; this arrangement also assists in properly centering the door during the closing movement thereof, thus eliminating the detrimental influence of door hinge play. Besides, when the door is eventually closed the upper edge of the vertical wing of holding corner plate 6 is higher than the lower level of the retaining heel consisting of the lower portion of element 21 of keeper 14; thus it during a shock causing a distortion of the vehicle body the door were opened by a force exerted substantially in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, the holding corner plate 6 would abut against the retaining heel to prevent the lock bolt 5 from escaping from the notch 17 as a consequence of a movement of translation in a direction parallel to to the vehicle axis; thus, in case of crash the door will remain in locking engagement with the body pillar, in spite of distortions occuring in the vehicle body.

Of course, the form of embodiment described hereinabove and illustrated in the attached drawing should not be construed as limiting the sco e of the invention since many modifications may be broug t thereto without departing from the spirit and basic principles of the invention as set forth in the appended claims; thus, more particularly, the keeper 14 may also consist of a unitary member, in lieu of three elements as shown.

I claim:

1. A lock assembly for safely locking the doors of automotive vehicles comprising a door lock unit of conventional type having a back plate and a casing, a comer plate having a vertical wing and a lower horizontal wing abutting against said bottom plate of said door lock unit spaced below said casing, a resilient pad disposed between the vertical wing of said corner plate and the bottom plate to provide a space between a lower edge of the lock casing and the pad, and a keeper coacting with the lower edge of said lock casing and comprising, on its side nearest the backplate, a retaining heel of which the lower end is adapted to bear against said resilient pad and lies at a level lower than that of the upper edge of said vertical wing of said comer plate, said keeper being fixed to a portion of the vehicle adjacent the door in the closed position.

2. A lock assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a lower lock-securing screw securing said corner plate to said door lock unit through said resilient pad, said resilient pad comprising a piece of plastic material having apertures formed therein to impart the desired resiliency thereto, a lock bolt of said lock being positioned in a vertical plane so that when the door is closed it extends into the plane of said keeper, said keeper comprising a three-element assembly and outermost elements of which are metal and relatively rigid and the intermediate element comprises a plastic material having a low coefficient of friction, the upper faces of said elements being level with one another and one of said metal elements forming said retaining heel.

3. A lock assembly for safely securing the doors of automotive vehicles comprising a door lock unit secured to a door of the vehicle and a keeper secured to an adjacent column of said vehicle, said lock unit comprising a casing containing a conventional locking means and a backplate, a corner plate secured to said door below said lock casing, said corner plate com rising a vertical wing and a lower horizontal wing bearing against said bottom plate, a resilient pad disposed between said vertical wing of said comer plate and the bottom plate to provide between the lower edge of the lock casing and said pad a space in which said keeper is inserted, said keeper coacting with the lower edge of the locking casing and having on its side nearest the lock casing a retaining heel of which the lower end is adapted to bear against said resilient pad and lies at a level lower than the upper edge of said vertical wing of said corner plate, said keeper having a profiled upper edge adapted to engage with and secure a lock bolt portion of said door lock unit. 

1. A lock assembly for safely locking the doors of automotive vehicles comprising a door lock unit of conventional type having a back plate and a casing, a corner plate having a vertical wing and a lower horizontal wing abutting against said bottom plate of said door lock unit spaced below said casing, a resilient pad disposed between the vertical wing of said corner plate and the bottom plate to provide a space between a lower edge of the lock casing and the pad, and a keeper coacting with the lower edge of said lock casing and comprising, on its side nearest the backplate, a retaining heel of which the lower end is adapted to bear against said resilient pad and lies at a level lower than that of the upper edge of said vertical wing of said corner plate, said keeper being fixed to a portion of the vehicle adjacent the door in the closed position.
 2. A lock assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a lower lock-securing screw securing said corner plate to said door lock unit through said resilient pad, said resilient pad comprising a piece of plastic material having apertures formed therein to impart the desired resiliency thereto, a lock bolt of said lock being positioned in a vertical plane so that when the door is closed it extends into the plane of said keeper, said keeper comprising a three-element assembly and outermost elements of which are metal and relatively rigid and the intermediate element comprises a plastic material having a low coefficient of friction, the upper faces of said elements being level with one another and one of said metal elements forming said retaining heel.
 3. A lock assembly for safely securing the doors oF automotive vehicles comprising a door lock unit secured to a door of the vehicle and a keeper secured to an adjacent column of said vehicle, said lock unit comprising a casing containing a conventional locking means and a backplate, a corner plate secured to said door below said lock casing, said corner plate comprising a vertical wing and a lower horizontal wing bearing against said bottom plate, a resilient pad disposed between said vertical wing of said corner plate and the bottom plate to provide between the lower edge of the lock casing and said pad a space in which said keeper is inserted, said keeper coacting with the lower edge of the locking casing and having on its side nearest the lock casing a retaining heel of which the lower end is adapted to bear against said resilient pad and lies at a level lower than the upper edge of said vertical wing of said corner plate, said keeper having a profiled upper edge adapted to engage with and secure a lock bolt portion of said door lock unit. 